Give us a quick introduction. When did you start working for Whitehouse and what does your job entail?

I am Kelly Norris and I have worked for the Village since 2009.  I am currently the “A” Shift Lieutenant and am responsible for a variety of tasks within the Fire Department.  My primary responsibility is management of our emergency vehicles.  I schedule and coordinate all maintenance, yearly inspections, repairs, and some purchases.  A second responsibility I have is maintaining all of our social media channels.  I’m the one that updates our Facebook page as well as generates content for Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.  I coordinate our Child Passenger Safety program and am a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician.  This is on top of my job as a Firefighter Paramedic where I respond to emergency runs whenever dispatched.  As the Lieutenant, I am usually one of the first arriving officers to take command of larger incidents and begin initial scene size up, ask for additional resources, and begin a plan to mitigate the emergency.  As a Paramedic, I ride LifeSquad 9 and administer Advanced Life Support treatment in the field for people experiencing a medical emergency.  The Village has been a great employer and I enjoy the Department and the people I work with.  I look forward to working here for another 15 years or so.

Where might we see you around the Village?
Answering 911 calls or on any of our social media channels.

Do you have any family members or pets? 
I have a wife and 2 teenage children.

What is one of your all-time favorite movies?
The Hunt for Red October.

What is something you get to witness within your job that others might not normally get to see or might be unaware of?
I have the pleasure of helping people within our community during some of their most stressful times.  Whether it is an elderly citizen who has fallen and cannot get back up or someone suffering from a sudden critical event such as a heart attack or stroke.  I have the opportunity to interact with these people and get them the help they need.

Favorite location/spot in the Whitehouse area?
The Metroparks of course!  The bike trails at Oak Openings are the best!

You can take a trip to anywhere in the world – where do you go?
I want to take a World War II trip through Europe.

Favorite season/time of the year?
Fall!  Sweatshirts!

Can you leave us with a fun fact or a piece of advice?
I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Alan Simpson’s Eulogy at George H. W. Bush’s funeral…

“Hatred corrodes the container it is carried in.”  I try to always remember the power of positive thinking.